The Sword of Bothh

Drobaan Region Information

Drobaan

“…And before my eyes I witnessed them charge. Five-hundred screaming hulks of muscle, filth and rage atop enourmous black-furred pigs. Thier eyes bulged with fury, and spit flew from their roaring mouths. I tore my gaze away and surveyed our own fores, nearly fifteen hundred soldiers by final count. I gulped heard in my throat. It was clear that we had not brought enough.” – Kobaliz, Stormcaller Footman, final entry

History

Long ago, the land of Drobaan was divided between two civilizations, the Stormcallers and the Orcish Boar-Clans. The two groups were constantly at each other’s throats, causing turmoil and hardship in the desolate red plains. Eventually, the Orcs managed to unite their armies under a single banner, and waged a full-scale assault on the Stormcallers. The war raged on for centuries, beginning in the Bay of Blood to the east, spreading through to Karovall, and finally ending in the Thunderhead Mountains of the west. At last the Orcs were triumphant, completely eradicating the humans of Drobaan to extinction. However, though the Orcs were victorious, they swept through the mountain homes of the Stormcallers too quickly, leaving thousands dead in their wake. Without proper burials, the dead rose where they lay, resuming their posts in their mountain holds. The Orcs, fearful of the supernatural forces that drive such creatures, and needing nothing more from these mountain cities left the dead alone to bleakly meander about the could, windswept cliffs. The Orc clans, their goal achieved, split once again into their boar-riding clans, and scattered across the plains once more.

The Orc responsible for bringing the Boar Clans together was a Barbarian Warlord by the name of Bothh Gol’Garun. Bothh was a powerful, and widely-feared Orc who was known for his tenacity, and his fantastic leadership skills. Not many Orcs have been successful in uniting all the clans together, especially to achieve such a lofty goal as conquering a nation such as the Stormcallers. Bothh carried a sword that he used to win the adoration of his followers, which came to be known as The Sword of Bothh. The sword became a symbol of Orcish might, and though Bothh died long before the war for Drobaan was finished, the sword was passed on to his successor in order to continue the fight. The war lasted five-hundred years, and the sword was passed on six times to new clan leaders. Each of these leaders retained the power to lead that Bothh held himself, making the sword an important relic for the Orcs.

With the war finished, the strength of chaos prevailed over law and the Boar Clans emerged from the battlegrounds triumphant as masters of the savannah. The civilization they defeated now shows little trace of ever having existed, save for the multitude of ruins that litter the plains which the Boar Clans now ride freely. True to their chaotic tendencies, the Orcs kept no structure fully intact, and built themselves only what they needed to provide shelter. The Boar Clans are chiefly nomadic by nature, and scour the plains for their favourite game: boars and other hard-to-hunt animals of the terrain. The Orcs pride themselves on their grand victory, and are thus far content to remain conservative in their global view, keeping to their lands, thinking little of taking more.

Industries

The Orcs are not exporters of anything as a general rule, preferring to keep whatever they create to use for themselves. Hunting is the largest industry in Drobaan, as each of the many members of the Boar Clans hunt for food and pelts on an almost daily basis. The Orcs need little shelter to protect them from the warm environment in which they reside, and they have little need for other things, save for weapons which are mined and forged in Goruul. These weapons are inferior in many ways to weapons forged by more experienced hands (such as those forged by Dwarven or Elven blacksmiths), but they are enough for the Orcs, who typically make little distinction in the quality of one item compared with another. However, this does not make the Orcs self-sustaining as they might seem at first glance. The Orcs regularly perform raids on nearby human settlements when food and supplies are scarce, barging in with brute force and taking everything they need. In recent years, these raids have ebbed, mostly due to treaties of peace signed by the King of Weldor. However, the Orcs have little use for such bonds of agreement, and feel they owe no allegiance nor loyalty to humans and their like kin.

Life and Society

The Boar Clans of Drobaan are all very different from one-another, particularly in appearance and customs. Hundreds of years of infighting, clan merging, territorial disputes and holy wars have made the Orcs of this region very culturally diverse. In general, the Orcs lead very simple lives, living for the thrill of the hunt and the taste of blood on their blades. Battle is everything to the Orcs, and nearly every Orc considers it a great honour to die in battle fighting for one’s clan. The Orcs are tribal in nature, and thus form a strong bond with other members of their clan. However, these bonds are often tested by anger and rivalry, and it is not uncommon for clans to collapse due to infighting as a result of these attitudes. The chaos which birthed the Orcs is evident in almost everything they do, and thus life in the plains of Drobaan can be very harsh for Orcs unprepared to defend themselves. For more information, see the section called “The Boar Clans” on the Main Page of the wiki.

Government and Politics

Though it is quite clear that the Orcs of Drobaan are driven by the laws of chaos rather than law itself, they still have methods of determining who gives the orders. Instead of forming communities and settlements, the Orcs of Drobaan organize themselves into clans that are led by either the clan’s strongest male member, or the eldest living member of the clan (depending on the clan in question). Often feats of strength are required to determine who the leader of a clan will be, and many clans intensify this process with grave rituals and blood-letting. The clans typically govern themselves, roaming free across the plains, engaging in territorial disputes over hunting grounds and old feuds. Rarely, the clans unite under a common goal, and are led in these times by a Warchief who commands the clans as their supreme ruler. A Warchief is selected by the Priestesses of Goruul, and is crowned in a ritual atop a distant mountain peak to the north called the Bloodspring. Once crowned, the Warchief rules until dead, and is recognized by the beard he grows as a symbol of his status. As a result, Orcs who are not crowned Warchief may not grow beards out of respect for this level of status – a tradition which the vast majority of Orcs follow without question.

Power Groups

Religion

Major Settlements

Goruul

Few permanent settlements exist along the plains of Drobaan. However, atop a range of peaks known as The Tusks sits a well-maintained monastery and mining village known as Goruul. The monastery sits within a partially-ruined temple, which was built rather like a fortified tower. Here, a sisterhood of Orcs revere the boar god, Krotusk, and pay tribute to his divine will. The sisters seek to drive Krotusk’s influence, and ensure that future generations do the same. The sisterhood also attempt to create rulers that will garner Krotusk’s favour, often experimenting with inter-breeding with humans to create superior Warchiefs to rule over the clans. These Warchiefs must be chosen ultimately by Krotusk himself, and these rulers are made so during bloody rituals. The sisters spend much of their time preparing candidates that they feel will best hit the mark. The Boar Clans recognize no male rulers that are not chosen by Krotusk, and thus often follow women in a mariarchal role. The mining portion of Goruul serves to provide the hordes of Orcish clans with weapons and armour, mined from thick, smoke-gray iron. The Orcish clans often choose their greatest warriors to defend the borders of the village of Goruul against incursions by outlanders, though few ever think to challenge the Boar Clans in combat, fearing a prideful retribution.

Important Sites

Kavorall

Kavorall, once the crown-jewel of Stormcaller society, now stands in ruins in the centre of the southern plains of Drobaan. During the war for Drobaan, the Orcs overtook the city of Arius in the Bay of Blood, and then moved west quickly. Their next target was Kavorall, and over the course of almost a century, the Orcs laid seige to the well-fortified metropolis. However, in the end the might of the Orcs was too great, and their forces overtook the city’s defenses, driving the Stormcallers from Kavorall and into the Thunderhead mountains. The Orcs continued their seige in the thrill of victory, leaving no structure undamaged in the process. They ensured that the city was devoid of all life before moving on to follow their quarry into their mountain holds. In current times, the Orcs often use this site as a base of operations in times of war, as this area is well-suited for large-scale meetings of the clans. Unlike other Stormcaller settlements left over from the war, Kavorall is not covered with the undead remnants of the empire, as the humans were all driven out prior to their extinction by Orcish hands.

Cliffden

Once a masterpiece of architecture, the city of Cliffden now stands in ruins, barely clinging to the cliffsides of the Thunderhead mountains. As dutiful in death as they were in life, the Stormcallers rose from their graves after being wiped out by their Orcish enemies, and resumed their posts. The remain there to this day, defending their lands against any who dare set foot into their cursed cliffside homes. These ruins are said to hold many secrets, among them a lost prison called The Vault of the Tempest, said to be home not only to the most vile criminals in Stormcaller history, but also to powerful artifacts, said to be protected by the same measure which guard the prisoners. The Orcs avoid this place wherever possible, fearful of the supernatural revenge that the undead might wreak upon them should they return to finish what they started during the war.

Arsius

The city of Arsius was the first ever built by the Stormcallers when they landed upon the shores of Drobaan from an island across the sea. Destroyed during the war for Drobaan between the Orcs and Stormcaller Empire, the city is now filled with crumbling ruins which positively teem with ghouls and other gruesome, mindless undead. Though the Orcs typically try to avoid this city as a matter of principal due to the supernatural nature of the creatures which now call the ruins home, the true threat comes not from the denizens of the city proper, but from the ships which still sail the Bay of Blood. The Stormcallers were consummate sailors, having braved treacherous storms to reach Drobaan. When the undead rose again, they returned to their duties, and horrible ghost-ships now lurk the bay, captained by undead masters of surf and sail. The hulls of these ships are said to be filled with treasure, bursting with gold and amassed wealth of the now-dead empire.

Adventuring In Drobaan

Drobaan is a dangerous place for anyone, including members of the Orcish race. The plains are rampant with clans that ride direboars and attack anyone they view as a threat – or anyone that they wish to battle in order to test their skills. What’s more, in areas that the Orcs do not call their own, massive tribes of Hill Giants lumber about, attacking intruders out of fear more than anything else. In addition, Drobaan’s history of war led to the destruction of the Stormcaller empire, leaving behind vast ruins virtually unexplored by the Orcs. Karvorall likely holds secrets that the Orcs have thus far overlooked, but the ruined city is very difficult to get to for humans due to the Orcs that roam nearby. The other settlements of Stormcaller past now crawl with undead, and certainly hold many treasures and riches the Orcs were not able to take with them after sweeping though in their bloody fury. The undead that guard the ruins of Cliffden are said to stand watch over a vast Vault where prisoners were once held for crimes against the empire. Stories tell that this place was so well protected that the Stormcallers used it to keep their mightiest belongings safe as well. The Bay of Blood is filled with the ships of undead sailors, constantly patrolling the waters they once called home. Wherever one decides to look, Drobaan holds challenges and mysteries galore.